Czech police detain Russian priest over ‘white substance’ find

Moscow condemned the action of the Czech police, calling the detainment a ‘provocation’.Czech police have detained a Russian cleric after four containers of a suspicious white substance were discovered in his car.Orthodox Bishop Hilarion was detained in the town of Karlovy Vary, according to a statement released on his Telegram channel by his defence team on Monday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Europol busts Europe-wide drug ring in ‘largest-ever’ operationlist 2 of 3Russia’s law against books by ‘foreign agents’ signals tightening griplist 3 of 3Why do 250 million Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7?end of listThe arrest sparked claims of provocation from Moscow against Czechia’s government, despite Prague having reduced its support for Ukraine since it took office six months ago.Bishop Hilarion, 60, whose secular name is Grigory Alfeyev, heads the Russian Orthodox Church’s congregation in the western town, which hosts a sizeable Russian diaspora.The cleric denied any involvement in drug possession. “I have no connection and have never had any connection to the illegal trafficking of narcotic substances,” he said in the statement.Czech police said only that a man was detained on Sunday evening on a highway between Karlovy Vary and Prague, adding that interrogations were under way and no one had been charged, without disclosing the detainee’s identity.The Czech Drug Enforcement Centre said it had also acted on an anonymous tip-off reporting the transport of narcotic and psychotropic substances.Hilarion’s defence said police offered no clear reason for stopping the vehicle and that two patrol cars appeared to be waiting for it on the road.Hilarion was not permitted to observe the search, his lawyer said, adding that the defence was demanding independent forensic analysis of the substance along with fingerprint and DNA checks.